The #4 Louisville volleyball team continued its red-hot stretch to close out the regular season, rolling past Clemson for a 3-0 sweep (25-16, 25-12, 25-21) on Sunday afternoon at Jervey Gym.
With the victory, the Cardinals (24-4, 16-2 ACC) have now extended their winning streak to ten matches.
Payton Petersen led the charge for Louisville, logging a double-double with a team-high 13 kills on .393 hitting while adding 13 digs and a pair of blocks.
The Cardinals’ defense at the net was stifling throughout the contest. Middle blocker Cara Cresse posted a match-high nine blocks to go along with seven kills. Setter Nayelis Cabello also got in on the block party, recording five blocks while orchestrating the offense with 35 assists and three kills.
As a team, Louisville held Clemson (16-14, 4-14 ACC) to a frigid .062 hitting percentage. The Tigers managed zero service aces and only two total blocks in the loss. Mia McGrath led Clemson with 11 kills, while Mia Moore added 10.
Louisville wasted no time establishing dominance in the opening frame. Fueled by a .455 hitting clip and four early blocks, the Cardinals raced out to a 15-5 lead. Clemson was unable to get any closer than eight points the rest of the way, and UofL cruised to a 25-16 set one victory.
The second set was more of the same. Two straight kills from Cresse sparked a run that saw Louisville jump out to a 10-3 advantage, forcing an early Clemson timeout. A serving run by Chloe Chicoine later ignited a 5-0 spurt to push the lead to 16-7. The Cardinals eventually closed the door on a block from Chicoine and Hannah Sherman, taking the set 25-12.
Clemson showed some fight in the third, taking their first lead of the match at 5-4. However, Louisville quickly reclaimed the advantage on a Cresse block. Although the Tigers used a 5-1 run to trim the deficit to a single point at 18-17, the Cardinals never relinquished the lead.
After a Clemson service error pushed the lead back to 22-19, Kalyssa Blackshear, who finished with seven kills on .400 hitting, put UofL on match point. Petersen and Cresse then combined for the game-winning block to seal the sweep at 25-21.
Next up, Louisville faces a massive test to close out the regular season. The Cardinals will travel to face rival Pitt on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, before returning home to host Stanford on Friday, Nov. 29.
